Canadian drinking water,
in one place.
Real-time river flow, reservoir storage, treatment systems, infrastructure risk, and per-capita use data for Canadian cities — from source to tap to egress. Data gaps are shown, not hidden.
National snapshot · June 2026
Cities with active restrictions
1
Metro Vancouver — Stage 3
Cities on single-source supply
2
Edmonton (NSR), Whitehorse (Yukon R.) — no reservoir backup
Cities tracked (live)
9
Vancouver · Victoria · Calgary · Edmonton · Canmore · Regina · Winnipeg · Toronto · Ottawa
Cities planned (Phase 2+)
11
All remaining provincial & territorial capitals
The water cycle — how every city page is structured
Source
River, lake, reservoir, or aquifer. Live WSC hydrometric station data.
Storage
Reservoir capacity, current levels, per-capita buffer in dam³/person.
Treatment
WTP name, process, capacity, operator, fluoridation status.
Distribution
Pipe age, single points of failure, known infrastructure risks.
Use
Per-capita L/day, sector split, major industrial users, conservation status.
Egress
Wastewater treatment type, discharge point, CSO risk.
Cities — live data
Metro Vancouver
British Columbia
Source
Surface
Per-capita use
490 L/day
Reservoir buffer
~68% of target
Population served
2.7M
⚡ Stage 3 restrictions
🌲 Low snowpack
✓ Closed watersheds
Greater Victoria
British Columbia
Source
Surface
Per-capita use
330 L/day
Reservoir buffer
~2 years
Population served
400K
🔧 Sooke Flowline (1915)
🔥 WFI moderate
No fluoride
Calgary
Alberta
Source
Surface
Per-capita use
215 L/day
Glenmore storage
—
Population served
1.4M
⚠ Feeder main (2025 failure)
✓ Dual-source system
Edmonton
Alberta
Source
Surface
Per-capita use
225 L/day
Reservoir buffer
~72 hours
Population served
1.1M
⚠ Single-source, no reservoir
🔥 WFI upstream
Canmore
Alberta
Source
Blended
Per-capita use
Not reported
Reservoir buffer
Not public
Population served
16K
💧 50% groundwater
🔥 WFI moderate
Regina
Saskatchewan
Source
Surface
Per-capita use
330 L/day
WTP
Shared (Regina + Saskatoon)
Population served
250K
⚠ Single WTP serves 2 cities
🌿 Algae blooms
Winnipeg
Manitoba
Source
Surface
Per-capita use
280 L/day
Aqueduct
154km gravity-fed
Population served
800K
🔧 Aqueduct built 1919
⚖ Shoal Lake #40 justice story
Toronto
Ontario
Source
Lake Ontario
Per-capita use
200 L/day
Treatment capacity
2,600 ML/day
Population served
3.6M
✓ Lowest per-capita use in Canada
🏛 RC Harris WTP (1941)
Ottawa
Ontario
Source
Dual-river
Per-capita use
230 L/day
Primary source
Ottawa River (90%)
Population served
1.1M
🌿 Rideau R. algae (Aug–Oct)
✓ Dual-source system
More cities
Phase 3 — coming soon
Québec City · Fredericton · Halifax
Charlottetown · St. John's
Whitehorse · Yellowknife · Iqaluit
Charlottetown · St. John's
Whitehorse · Yellowknife · Iqaluit
City comparison — key metrics
| City | Province | Source | Operator | Per-capita (L/day) | Storage buffer | Fluoride | Restriction | Infrastructure risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metro Vancouver | BC | Surface | Metro Vancouver RD | 490 | ~68% of target | No | Stage 3 | Low |
| Greater Victoria | BC | Surface | CRD | 330 | ~2 years | No (removed 2011) | None | Low-mod (Flowline age) |
| Calgary | AB | Surface | City of Calgary | 215 | Glenmore: 56% · Bearspaw: minimal | Yes | None | High (feeder main) |
| Edmonton | AB | Surface | EPCOR | 225 | ~72 hrs (no reservoir) | Yes | None | Mod (single source) |
| Canmore | AB | Blended | EPCOR | Not reported | Not public | Not reported | None | Low |
| Regina | SK | Surface | Buffalo Pound WTC | 330 | 112,000 dam³ | Yes | None | Mod (single WTP serves 2 cities) |
| Winnipeg | MB | Surface | City of Winnipeg | 280 | Shoal Lake (effectively unlimited) | Yes | None | Mod (aqueduct age, 1919) |
| Toronto | ON | Lake Ontario | Toronto Water | 200 | Effectively unlimited | Yes | None | Low |
| Ottawa | ON | Dual-river | Ottawa Water Services | 230 | No reservoir | Yes | None | Low-mod (Rideau algae) |
| Charlottetown | PE | Groundwater | City / Province | — | — | Yes | — | — |
| + 7 more planned — Québec City · Fredericton · Halifax · Charlottetown · St. John's · Whitehorse · Yellowknife · Iqaluit | ||||||||
How WaterWatch works
Live hydrometric data
River flow and water level from Environment Canada's Water Survey (WSC) network — updated every 6 hours via GitHub Actions. The same data federal and provincial agencies use for flood forecasting and drought monitoring.
Data gaps are shown, not hidden
Reservoir levels, industrial water use, and groundwater data are rarely published publicly. Every section exists on every city page — unknown data is labelled "not publicly available," not omitted. This is intentional accountability pressure.
Infrastructure stories, not just numbers
Calgary's feeder main failures, Edmonton's no-reservoir design, Victoria's 110-year-old Sooke Flowline, Charlottetown's groundwater dependency — the risk stories that don't appear in municipal annual reports.